Iteration
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Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
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Category:
Naruto › Yaoi - Male/Male › Naruto/Sasuke
Rating:
Adult +
Chapters:
119
Views:
2,719
Reviews:
1203
Recommended:
0
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
This story has some of Masashi Kishimoto's characters from Naruto in a universe of my own devising. I do not own Naruto. I do not make any money from these writings.
Loyalties
‘Iteration’ is part of the space saga that began with ‘In the cold of space you find the heat of suns’ and continues in ‘Tales in Tarrasade’. There is also a one-shot ‘Silver Leaf Tales: Tying the knot’.
Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta. For this story he has also been my muse, suggesting a number of the ideas that have evolved to create this arc.
Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to disembodiedvoiceofthedying, lividangel (twice, thanks!), Gingitsune (twice, thanks!), blugirlami21, lonelylulaby, Prism0467, sadie237, Dorkchic, richon, Darling425, Tati, unneeded, v, angelj232000, cynaga (twice, thanks!) who reviewed after chapter 77 was posted.
I very much appreciate every review. They help me keep writing.
Remember, there is the forum topic if you want to discuss anything:
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
This is posted in the Naruto/Sasuke section because it is part of a Naru/Sasu/Naru space saga. However, it does feature many other pairings (and a few threesomes). Apologies to those hoping for Sasuke/Naruto or Naruto/Sasuke action in every chapter.
Chapter seventy-eight: Loyalties
The Zetsus stared at the pot and the apparently innocuous cream it contained. They took a deep breath. It had to be done. Konan could no longer leave the ship. Hana was confident about buying everyday supplies but there was no way she could choose the components they needed to repair the communication system.
They had even discussed fitting Hana with a camera, microphone and radio but Inryoku had overruled Enerugi; it was not fair on Hana. She disliked bartering with purebreds and although she could cope in a market, she would be out of her depth with a specialist supplier.
Inryoku plunged three fingers into the cream and immediately smeared it on his side of their face. His hand came away covered with dark grey gunk.
He heard En-chan give a small whimper.
Inryoku wiped it away, rinsed their face, washed out the facecloth and repeated the process until the cloth came away clean. Then he removed the coloured lens from his eye.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” En-chan whispered.
They looked into the mirror.
Inryoku refused to think that he had vanished. “There, I am disguised as you,” he declared. “Do you think it will convince people, En-chan?”
Enerugi stared at their image. It was not as painful as he had expected. He no longer saw two people pretending to be one. True, In-chan looked different to how he normally looked, but he was still In-chan.
“I am disguised as you,” In-chan said. “Do you think it will convince people?”
“We do not look like Zetsu,” Enerugi replied, “so it is a success."
It was so different since they had met Shikamaru. Shikamaru and Haru had seen them as two separate people. No one else ever had; not even Pein. Others humoured them; Shikamaru and Haru believed in their reality.
Was Pein alive? He had thought he was going to die, Enerugi knew that. Otherwise he would have told them to hide in the Far Fringe. Instead they were fleeing Inwards. He could not talk about it to In-chan. In-chan was much closer to Pein than he was.
“Ready?” In-chan asked.
Enerugi nodded. They dressed and strapped on their knives.
Konan gaped and even Hana stared.
“We will need you to go with us, Hana,” In-chan said. “Minunderville is anything but safe.”
Hana pulled herself together. “If Konan-sama will permit it,” she replied.
Konan’s mouth closed with a snap. “Of course. Thank you, Zetsu-san. I appreciate that this is difficult for you,” she acknowledged.
In one way it was a relief to have the ship to herself. The living accommodation was limited and Hana was so attentive that sometimes Konan wanted to scream. Not that she was truly alone. She placed her hand on her distended abdomen. The baby obliged with a kick.
Nagato’s child; conceived in a moment of madness induced by spring flowers and a small boy with blue eyes.
Then it had all begun to unravel. Sasori had been a traitor. Inexplicably, Ranmaru had proved loyal to Uchiha. Shikamaru had cut through their layers of security like a hot knife through butter. They had taken the uploader and all the unprinted clones.
Any other time Konan would have been thankful. No uploader meant no uploading; she would not have to watch Nagato go through that horrific pain. Not at this time; Orochimaru-sama was due. Somewhere, at some secret base, he would be coming out of stasis. He would arrive and expect them to have the current Orochimaru print ready for him to upload from.
Only the print was dead. In its place was a reprint whose memories were already degenerating. Orochimaru-sama would want to upload immediately. Konan shuddered as she imagined his reaction to the delay.
Pein and Zetsu had desperately tried to build a replacement. It was painstaking, fiddly work and they made slow progress. They could not even make prints to assist, because all the blank clones had gone, or call in Devas, because Pein had ordered them to self-destruct when he was trying to avoid Klennethon Darrent’s attention.
Thinking about that still made Konan angry. Pein should have told her about Klennethon Darrent. If he had told her she would have advised much greater caution. Perhaps she would have had the sense to insist that Shikamaru and Haru were returned to Uchiha.
In the evenings, when Pein was too exhausted to work, they had tried to anticipate Orochimaru-sama’s reaction. They had decided that he would tolerate them only having a reprint waiting for him; the records confirmed he knew how reckless his prints could be. He might even be pleased that they had managed to salvage at least some of the memories and experiences.
But he would never forgive them for losing the uploader. Pein had decided the best option was to pretend it had been destroyed. It was on a ship. Occasionally ships had to self-destruct or met with some natural phenomenon that did the job for them.
That had been the basis for their plan. Zetsu would create a record of the ship being crippled by space gravel, attacked by pirates and activating its self-destruct. If they heard from Orochimaru-sama before the uploader was finished, Pein would keep working while she and Zetsu ran. He would tell Orochimaru-sama that they had been on the ship when it was destroyed.
The message had arrived when the uploader was only two-thirds completed.
Konan knew Nagato did not expect Orochimaru-sama to believe him. That was why Zetsu was with her, why they were going Inwards rather than Outwards and why they could not use any of their contacts or touch any of their accounts. They had changed ships five times. This one had a sound hull and a reliable drive but its communications system was shot. Zetsu could not mend a hull or a drive but he could rebuild a communications system.
She had been grateful, if surprised, when Zetsu had removed the black face paint. It showed how far he was willing to go to protect the baby. Perhaps he was even doing it for her.
They had purchased almost everything they needed within the first one hundred minutes but a few of the more esoteric components were proving elusive. Inryoku considered giving up and going back to the ship. They had enough to rebuild the communication systems. The extra equipment was so that they could hack the light speed communication relays.
Two of the other suppliers had recommended Ray’s as a source of the missing components but both had warned them that Ray could be uncooperative.
“He might decide to help you,” the second had said. He had nodded toward Hana. “Because of her. You could wear ribbons,” he added.
Inryoku had not understood but he waited until they were clear of the shop to ask Hana.
“HDL ribbons,” she told him. “Hybrid Defence League. Either Ray is a hybrid or he supports hybrid rights.”
Inryoku imagined what Pein would say.
“We should do it,” En-chan insisted. “Anything to improve the odds of getting Konan-sama to safety.”
Hana frowned but nodded.
It was easy to buy ribbons; they were available on every second market stall. Strangely, Hana knew the difference between an official ribbon, which the stallholder had purchased from the HDL, and an imitation.
Neither of them asked how.
It worked. Ray, whose scales announced his hybrid origins, was almost pleasant. He flirted with Hana; Inryoku recognised the behaviour because sometimes Pein acted like that with Konan. Hana scowled at him but Ray did not seem to mind. They got the components they had wanted or others that would substitute.
On the way back to the ship Hana suggested they stop at a bar for sustenance. Inryoku was surprised; he had thought she would want to rush back to Konan.
“She wants to talk to us about Konan-san,” En-chan confided using the voice that stayed in their head.
It was still the middle of the day, so the bar was more an eating place than a bar.
Inryoku bought a meal for Hana and one for En-chan; he did not want to draw attention by having three meals for two bodies.
“We need to get Konan-sama to a medico we can trust before she goes into labour,” Hana told him.
Inryoku was surprised, as was En-chan. “But childbirth is meant to be a natural process during which all women instinctively know what to do,” he said, quoting Pein.
Hana looked at him as if he was stupid. “Death is also a natural process. Childbirth is dangerous. The mother can die. The baby can die. Both mother and baby can die.” She sighed. “Konan-sama refuses to accept that there are risks.”
“Leave it to us, Hana,” En-chan assured her.
Hana looked at them, studying their face. Inryoku wondered if she was deciding if she could trust them. Finally, she nodded.
Once they were back on the ship Inryoku took out the black face paint and brush. He did not need a mirror to draw a perfectly straight line so that the edge of the line was precisely in the centre of their face; he had decades of experience. He sponged paint over his side of their face and put in his lens.
When they looked in the mirror he felt En-chan relax. Maybe one day they would be ready to live without such a blatant statement of their separate identities but not yet. For now, it was hard enough to be outside the sanctuary that Pein had built for them.
They had work to do. They had a communication system to rebuild and a light speed communication relay to hack.
They were resorting to plan B.
Shikamaru was in the data streams when the ping reached Tarrasade. It was an Akatsuki ping; it had the extra feature he had incorporated when he taught the Zetsus how to hack the relays. It was the first Akatsuki ping since their escape.
He had traced it back to Minunderville before he had considered what it might mean. Within minutes he had found the packets of data that were tagged for only him to find and decoded the contents. The information spilled out across his field of view.
The Zetsus, Inryoku and Enerugi, needed his help. He knew immediately that he would give it, but how?
Instinctively, he planned how to eliminate all evidence of the data packets, the ping and the hack that had caused it. He could do it. By the time Shino checked for pings, as he did each morning, there could be no sign of it. He could send one or more of the Tennyos.
Or he could talk to Klenn.
Or he could leave the ping intact and tell Sasuke.
He looked at the ring on his duty finger. He remembered his promise to tell Sasuke about the big stuff.
He swallowed, imagining what Sasuke would want to do to the person who had planned Haru’s abduction.
Sasuke was sitting in on Hoshi’s first one-to-one biwa lesson with Daikoku. Daikoku had taught him biwa as a child. Sasuke remembered him as harsh; quick to criticise and inclined to flick Sasuke’s ear when he made an error, which had been surprisingly painful.
He had already shared his thoughts on discipline with Daikoku during a frank and private discussion. He had pointed out that if Daikoku forgot himself and flicked Hoshi’s or Hikaru’s ear, Sasuke would not stop Naruto from extracting retribution.
Daikoku had gone an interesting shade of grey that had reassured Sasuke that he understood. Instead Daikoku tapped the edge of the table with his baton, which was an acceptable alternative. Sasuke would see if Hoshi responded as well to Daikoku as he had done. If not, there were other music teachers.
At the end of the lesson Sasuke gave Hoshi a hug and praised her for working hard and pushing herself. She smiled at him and ran off to tell Naruto about the lesson, leaving Sasuke to show Daikoku out.
“She is promising, Uchiha-sama,” Daikoku told him, “Hikaru-chan will only ever be competent.”
Competent was a compliment from Daikoku. “Thank you, Daikoku-san. I shall walk you out.”
Shikamaru was leaning on the wall of the corridor outside the door. His body was too arranged; his eyes too anxious. Sasuke immediately used the intercom to summon someone, anyone, to escort Daikoku to the exit.
“Out with it,” he ordered as soon as Akemi and Daikoku were out of earshot.
Shikamaru looked away from him, which was even more worrying. “The Zetsus have pinged me. They need my help.”
Zetsu was Akatsuki and Sasuke loathed the Akatsuki. They had stolen his children. They had put him and Naruto through half a standard of hell. The Akatsuki had deprived them of five divs of Haru’s childhood.
But Shikamaru would not look at him. Sasuke’s mind raced.
He had no delusions about Shikamaru’s reach. He could have helped Zetsu secretly. This was Shikamaru choosing to behave as Sasuke wished rather than as his instincts told him.
He took a deep breath. “Zetsu is your friend,” he admitted and was rewarded by Shikamaru meeting his gaze. The depth of gratitude in his eyes was humbling. “You do pick them, Shika,” he added.
En-chan insisted that he would tell Konan. Inryoku was dubious, it was usually him who spoke to Konan or Pein, but En-chan was determined. They waited until Hana actually sat down for a few minutes. She was sorting and folding clothes. Konan-san was knitting a garment for the baby.
“I am Enerugi,” En-chan began in a surprisingly strong and confident voice. “The one you think of as light Zetsu. I wish to talk to you, Konan-san, and you, Hana-san.”
Konan-san? Hana-san? Inryoku was wishing he had insisted on knowing what En-chan was going to say.
“The time has come to accept that our time with the Akatsuki has come to an end,” he continued. “Some, maybe all, of us have personal loyalty to Pein-san but that does not change our situation. Either we are dead to Orochimaru or he knows we are alive, whereupon he will hunt us down.
“Pein-san would want Konan-san and the baby safe. We can try to hide or we can turn to the only person at least three out of the four of us believe will help us. Inryoku and I have made that decision. We have contacted Shikamaru-san.”
There was silence. Then Konan recommenced her knitting. “Good,” she said. “Thank you, Zetsu-san.”
“Good?” Inryoku queried.
“Pein-sama did not just want us to head inwards,” Konan told them. “He wanted me to go to Tarrasade and contact Sasuke Uchiha.”
Inryoku sank down onto one of the couches, taking Enerugi with him. “Konan-sama?” he whispered.
“Light Zetsu is correct,” she told him. “It should be Konan-san from now on. And we had better become accustomed to treating hybrids with respect or Sasuke Uchiha will be even less likely to help us.”
“But Sasuke Uchiha? We kidnapped his children,” Inryoku reminded her.
Konan knitted another row. “He is a man of honour. Orochimaru is not. To whom would you turn for mercy?”
Inryoku had to admit that she had a point.
Kakashi was seething with fury.
At least it was not Pein. If it had been Pein, Kakashi would have killed him, direct order or no direct order.
Sasuke had offered to replace him on the mission; to send Asuma. Kakashi had refused. Asuma was too kind. Asuma would be swayed by the fact that Pein’s woman was pregnant.
They were taking the new mini-mothership, the Maple. The idea was that they would rendezvous with the craft carrying the Akatsuki renegades. Kakashi was determined to make absolutely certain it was not a Trojan horse before bringing its occupants home to Tarrasade.
On the mission were Neji and Shikamaru, to assist Kakashi with the interrogation, Izumo and Inari, to take apart their ship, Shino, to work with Shikamaru on their computer systems, and Rin, to look after Konan and the baby. Tayuya, Gai and Kunugi would man the control room. Kisame had been added because of Konan’s dog-human bodyguard. Dan had been added at his own request. Kakashi was captain.
There wasn’t a queen; Iruka was staying with Ran. Kakashi expected Neji to volunteer because he was good at domestic stuff and no one ever skipped chores Neji asked them to do.
Kakashi stood at the top of the gangplank, waiting for his crew to board. It was the way old Uchiha had done it and he saw no reason to change.
Neji and Shikamaru were first, which reinforced Kakashi’s expectation that Neji was going to volunteer to be queen. Otherwise Shikamaru would have got his way and they would have been last; not late but last.
Shikamaru got his way far too often. Particularly about offering assistance to enemies. Particularly about taking in the person who had planned Haru’s abduction.
He watched Shikamaru approaching. Kakashi held his gaze; building Shikamaru’s hope so that he could dash it. He waited until Shikamaru opened his mouth.
“Do not try to speak to me,” he ordered. “There is nothing you can say that I wish to hear.”
Part of him relished the way Shikamaru recoiled from him; the hurt in his eyes. The rest felt guilty.
“Kakashi-san,” Neji warned.
As if Neji could ever hope to stand between Kakashi and a target he had selected.
“You take our stuff to our cabin, Shika,” Neji suggested. “Kakashi-san and I are going to talk.”
“We are?” Kakashi queried.
“We are,” Neji replied. “Before we undock and you become Captain. We can do it here, where anyone boarding can hear us, or it can be in private.”
Kakashi hesitated but he did not doubt that Neji would carry through his threat. He was about to say that they could talk once everyone was aboard but then Inari entered the dock with Tayuya.
“Inari-san, would you welcome the crew aboard on my behalf?” Kakashi asked.
Inari flushed slightly. “It would be an honour, Kakashi-san,” he replied.
They went to the captain’s cabin. Neji shut the door behind them.
“This is not only about Shika, Kakashi-san,” Neji informed him. “It is about your judgement. When you are this angry you revert to a standard that is no longer acceptable. Without Iruka-san’s presence to mitigate your behaviour, I believe you are a liability to this mission.”
Kakashi was reminded of the Hyuga who had served Fugaku-kyou; the man who had convinced Fugaku that he had ruined Itachi. The man who had faced up to a monster. The man whose advice had led them through despair to a better future.
He took a deep breath. “I am angry,” he admitted but Neji merely looked at him with his strange, pale eyes. Had the other Hyuga looked at Fugaku-kyou in the same way? “What is your assessment of this mission, Neji-san?” he asked, hoping that Neji would stop studying him.
“It is unexpected,” Neji replied. “Frankly, I am surprised that Shikamaru told Sasuke about Zetsu contacting him. He could have eliminated all trace of the communication and arranged assistance through his network of agents using a tiny fraction of his resources.”
Kakashi had not considered that possibility; his understanding of Shikamaru’s influence and reach must be grossly outdated. It was not a good thought. “He is sworn to Uchiha,” he grumbled.
“Yes. So he chose to tell Sasuke. Perhaps that is why Sasuke is rewarding him by giving Zetsu the benefit of the doubt,” Neji suggested.
“It is dangerous,” Kakashi complained.
“It is a massive opportunity,” Neji countered. “Zetsu is the Akatsuki’s creative genius. Their Shikamaru.”
Although Kakashi hated to admit it, Neji had a point.
“Who are you so angry at, Kakashi-san?” Neji asked him.
If he was honest with himself, Kakashi did not know. “Guess,” he challenged.
“There are a number of possibilities,” Neji admitted. “ At yourself for allowing the kidnapping to happen? That could go back as far as blaming yourself for accepting Ranmaru. At Sasuke for allowing the Akatsuki to leave with Shikamaru and Haru? At Shikamaru for being so unworldly and trusting, despite being one of the most powerful people in known space?”
Kakashi smiled at that one.
“At Ran?” Neji suggested. “At Iruka-san because of Ran?”
A memory of Ran and Iruka sitting together drawing came into Kakashi’s mind. “Not Iruka and Ran,” he insisted. “I shall think about my motivation, Neji-san. And I shall apologise to Shika-kun. Even if I want to strangle him, that is no excuse for being mean.”
“Meanness usually has less extreme consequences than strangulation, Kakashi-san,” Neji pointed out.
Kakashi recognised Neji’s version of humour. “Will you look after the crew room for the mission, Neji-san?” he asked. “It only seems appropriate, given that you have already assumed Iruka’s role by chastising me.”
Neji bowed. “It will be an honour, Kakashi-san.”
Shikamaru had done as Neji told him and taken their bags to their room.
He split his mind between thinking about the ship, his current game of Go with Klenn and his latest interrogative virus; he did not want to think about the encounter with Kakashi.
The Maple might be ten times the size of the Sakura but the accommodation was only three times the size of the Sakura’s crew room. Most of the extra capacity was taken up by the four docking bays.
The crew room was based on the ones in the Oak and contained twelve rooms. Neji and Shikamaru had chosen to share, as had Rin and Dan, so they were using eleven of them. If a future mission required a larger crew, one of the docking bays could be filled with extra accommodation. That was the beauty of Izumo’s design; the docking bays could contain ships or modules. So far they had designed three modules and finished building one; the security suite.
The Maple, despite its size, was as fast as the Sakura. Using improver and Mulligan drive, the mission should only take, at most, ten days.
He placed their bags on one of the surfaces, sat on the bed and looked about the room. He did not know when Neji had found time to decorate it but he had; there were covers and throws as well as a display frame on one of the walls. Neji had compromised; it was in Shikamaru’s favourite colours but Neji-neat.
Shikamaru resolved to be tidy; he did not want to drive Neji into the adjacent room that Iruka had left vacant for that purpose.
He wished Iruka was accompanying them; Kakashi scared him when he was like this.
He had not wanted to think about Kakashi. He could unpack their bags but there was no point because he could not put away clothes to Neji’s impossibly high standards. Instead he flicked through the images stored in the display frame, settled on one based on fractals and studied it.
The door slid open. Shikamaru changed the image to a restful landscape. Neji closed the door and came up behind him. Shikamaru shivered as strong arms closed around him and held him.
“We could break in the bed?” he suggested, knowing that he was being unrealistic.
“I have rosters to write,” Neji replied, confirming that Kakashi had asked him to run the crew room for the mission. “Later,” he promised. “You should sit when Kakashi-san can find you. In the shared area or the galley.”
So Neji had persuaded Kakashi to talk with him. Shikamaru guessed that he had played on Kakashi’s guilt.
He picked the shared area because Neji was sitting at the table in the galley scheduling everybody’s duties. After a while Kakashi came in with two cups of coffee. He placed them side by side on the low table and sat on the couch next to Shikamaru.
“He spoils you even more than he does Naruto and the children,” he complained.
Shikamaru thought that Kakashi lacked evidence to back up the accusation, but did not comment. Kakashi was making a point. Sasuke did allow him an astonishing amount of freedom.
“I think that is one of the reasons he leads so well,” Kakashi continued. “He is enough like his father to want to control you, control everything, but he manages to resist the urge. He knows, bone deep, that loyalty is much more valuable than obedience. More than valuable. Precious.” He picked up Shikamaru’s cup and handed it to him. “Drink up. I am determined to get at least three cupfuls down you before ship’s night. It is my revenge on Neji for being so insufferably right.”
Shikamaru smiled and sipped the coffee. It was delicious.
“So tell me about Zetsu,” Kakashi suggested.
Shikamaru took another mouthful of coffee. He could already feel the caffeine hitting his system. “It’s not Zetsu, it’s the Zetsus,” he began.
Thanks to Small Fox for being my beta. For this story he has also been my muse, suggesting a number of the ideas that have evolved to create this arc.
Thank you to those readers who have written a review and particular thanks to disembodiedvoiceofthedying, lividangel (twice, thanks!), Gingitsune (twice, thanks!), blugirlami21, lonelylulaby, Prism0467, sadie237, Dorkchic, richon, Darling425, Tati, unneeded, v, angelj232000, cynaga (twice, thanks!) who reviewed after chapter 77 was posted.
I very much appreciate every review. They help me keep writing.
Remember, there is the forum topic if you want to discuss anything:
http://www2.adult-fanfiction.org/forum/index.php/topic/21106-the-world-of-mannah-pierce/
Apologies if the characters have grown differently in their new environment.
This is posted in the Naruto/Sasuke section because it is part of a Naru/Sasu/Naru space saga. However, it does feature many other pairings (and a few threesomes). Apologies to those hoping for Sasuke/Naruto or Naruto/Sasuke action in every chapter.
Chapter seventy-eight: Loyalties
The Zetsus stared at the pot and the apparently innocuous cream it contained. They took a deep breath. It had to be done. Konan could no longer leave the ship. Hana was confident about buying everyday supplies but there was no way she could choose the components they needed to repair the communication system.
They had even discussed fitting Hana with a camera, microphone and radio but Inryoku had overruled Enerugi; it was not fair on Hana. She disliked bartering with purebreds and although she could cope in a market, she would be out of her depth with a specialist supplier.
Inryoku plunged three fingers into the cream and immediately smeared it on his side of their face. His hand came away covered with dark grey gunk.
He heard En-chan give a small whimper.
Inryoku wiped it away, rinsed their face, washed out the facecloth and repeated the process until the cloth came away clean. Then he removed the coloured lens from his eye.
“You ready?” he asked.
“Yes,” En-chan whispered.
They looked into the mirror.
Inryoku refused to think that he had vanished. “There, I am disguised as you,” he declared. “Do you think it will convince people, En-chan?”
Enerugi stared at their image. It was not as painful as he had expected. He no longer saw two people pretending to be one. True, In-chan looked different to how he normally looked, but he was still In-chan.
“I am disguised as you,” In-chan said. “Do you think it will convince people?”
“We do not look like Zetsu,” Enerugi replied, “so it is a success."
It was so different since they had met Shikamaru. Shikamaru and Haru had seen them as two separate people. No one else ever had; not even Pein. Others humoured them; Shikamaru and Haru believed in their reality.
Was Pein alive? He had thought he was going to die, Enerugi knew that. Otherwise he would have told them to hide in the Far Fringe. Instead they were fleeing Inwards. He could not talk about it to In-chan. In-chan was much closer to Pein than he was.
“Ready?” In-chan asked.
Enerugi nodded. They dressed and strapped on their knives.
Konan gaped and even Hana stared.
“We will need you to go with us, Hana,” In-chan said. “Minunderville is anything but safe.”
Hana pulled herself together. “If Konan-sama will permit it,” she replied.
Konan’s mouth closed with a snap. “Of course. Thank you, Zetsu-san. I appreciate that this is difficult for you,” she acknowledged.
In one way it was a relief to have the ship to herself. The living accommodation was limited and Hana was so attentive that sometimes Konan wanted to scream. Not that she was truly alone. She placed her hand on her distended abdomen. The baby obliged with a kick.
Nagato’s child; conceived in a moment of madness induced by spring flowers and a small boy with blue eyes.
Then it had all begun to unravel. Sasori had been a traitor. Inexplicably, Ranmaru had proved loyal to Uchiha. Shikamaru had cut through their layers of security like a hot knife through butter. They had taken the uploader and all the unprinted clones.
Any other time Konan would have been thankful. No uploader meant no uploading; she would not have to watch Nagato go through that horrific pain. Not at this time; Orochimaru-sama was due. Somewhere, at some secret base, he would be coming out of stasis. He would arrive and expect them to have the current Orochimaru print ready for him to upload from.
Only the print was dead. In its place was a reprint whose memories were already degenerating. Orochimaru-sama would want to upload immediately. Konan shuddered as she imagined his reaction to the delay.
Pein and Zetsu had desperately tried to build a replacement. It was painstaking, fiddly work and they made slow progress. They could not even make prints to assist, because all the blank clones had gone, or call in Devas, because Pein had ordered them to self-destruct when he was trying to avoid Klennethon Darrent’s attention.
Thinking about that still made Konan angry. Pein should have told her about Klennethon Darrent. If he had told her she would have advised much greater caution. Perhaps she would have had the sense to insist that Shikamaru and Haru were returned to Uchiha.
In the evenings, when Pein was too exhausted to work, they had tried to anticipate Orochimaru-sama’s reaction. They had decided that he would tolerate them only having a reprint waiting for him; the records confirmed he knew how reckless his prints could be. He might even be pleased that they had managed to salvage at least some of the memories and experiences.
But he would never forgive them for losing the uploader. Pein had decided the best option was to pretend it had been destroyed. It was on a ship. Occasionally ships had to self-destruct or met with some natural phenomenon that did the job for them.
That had been the basis for their plan. Zetsu would create a record of the ship being crippled by space gravel, attacked by pirates and activating its self-destruct. If they heard from Orochimaru-sama before the uploader was finished, Pein would keep working while she and Zetsu ran. He would tell Orochimaru-sama that they had been on the ship when it was destroyed.
The message had arrived when the uploader was only two-thirds completed.
Konan knew Nagato did not expect Orochimaru-sama to believe him. That was why Zetsu was with her, why they were going Inwards rather than Outwards and why they could not use any of their contacts or touch any of their accounts. They had changed ships five times. This one had a sound hull and a reliable drive but its communications system was shot. Zetsu could not mend a hull or a drive but he could rebuild a communications system.
She had been grateful, if surprised, when Zetsu had removed the black face paint. It showed how far he was willing to go to protect the baby. Perhaps he was even doing it for her.
They had purchased almost everything they needed within the first one hundred minutes but a few of the more esoteric components were proving elusive. Inryoku considered giving up and going back to the ship. They had enough to rebuild the communication systems. The extra equipment was so that they could hack the light speed communication relays.
Two of the other suppliers had recommended Ray’s as a source of the missing components but both had warned them that Ray could be uncooperative.
“He might decide to help you,” the second had said. He had nodded toward Hana. “Because of her. You could wear ribbons,” he added.
Inryoku had not understood but he waited until they were clear of the shop to ask Hana.
“HDL ribbons,” she told him. “Hybrid Defence League. Either Ray is a hybrid or he supports hybrid rights.”
Inryoku imagined what Pein would say.
“We should do it,” En-chan insisted. “Anything to improve the odds of getting Konan-sama to safety.”
Hana frowned but nodded.
It was easy to buy ribbons; they were available on every second market stall. Strangely, Hana knew the difference between an official ribbon, which the stallholder had purchased from the HDL, and an imitation.
Neither of them asked how.
It worked. Ray, whose scales announced his hybrid origins, was almost pleasant. He flirted with Hana; Inryoku recognised the behaviour because sometimes Pein acted like that with Konan. Hana scowled at him but Ray did not seem to mind. They got the components they had wanted or others that would substitute.
On the way back to the ship Hana suggested they stop at a bar for sustenance. Inryoku was surprised; he had thought she would want to rush back to Konan.
“She wants to talk to us about Konan-san,” En-chan confided using the voice that stayed in their head.
It was still the middle of the day, so the bar was more an eating place than a bar.
Inryoku bought a meal for Hana and one for En-chan; he did not want to draw attention by having three meals for two bodies.
“We need to get Konan-sama to a medico we can trust before she goes into labour,” Hana told him.
Inryoku was surprised, as was En-chan. “But childbirth is meant to be a natural process during which all women instinctively know what to do,” he said, quoting Pein.
Hana looked at him as if he was stupid. “Death is also a natural process. Childbirth is dangerous. The mother can die. The baby can die. Both mother and baby can die.” She sighed. “Konan-sama refuses to accept that there are risks.”
“Leave it to us, Hana,” En-chan assured her.
Hana looked at them, studying their face. Inryoku wondered if she was deciding if she could trust them. Finally, she nodded.
Once they were back on the ship Inryoku took out the black face paint and brush. He did not need a mirror to draw a perfectly straight line so that the edge of the line was precisely in the centre of their face; he had decades of experience. He sponged paint over his side of their face and put in his lens.
When they looked in the mirror he felt En-chan relax. Maybe one day they would be ready to live without such a blatant statement of their separate identities but not yet. For now, it was hard enough to be outside the sanctuary that Pein had built for them.
They had work to do. They had a communication system to rebuild and a light speed communication relay to hack.
They were resorting to plan B.
Shikamaru was in the data streams when the ping reached Tarrasade. It was an Akatsuki ping; it had the extra feature he had incorporated when he taught the Zetsus how to hack the relays. It was the first Akatsuki ping since their escape.
He had traced it back to Minunderville before he had considered what it might mean. Within minutes he had found the packets of data that were tagged for only him to find and decoded the contents. The information spilled out across his field of view.
The Zetsus, Inryoku and Enerugi, needed his help. He knew immediately that he would give it, but how?
Instinctively, he planned how to eliminate all evidence of the data packets, the ping and the hack that had caused it. He could do it. By the time Shino checked for pings, as he did each morning, there could be no sign of it. He could send one or more of the Tennyos.
Or he could talk to Klenn.
Or he could leave the ping intact and tell Sasuke.
He looked at the ring on his duty finger. He remembered his promise to tell Sasuke about the big stuff.
He swallowed, imagining what Sasuke would want to do to the person who had planned Haru’s abduction.
Sasuke was sitting in on Hoshi’s first one-to-one biwa lesson with Daikoku. Daikoku had taught him biwa as a child. Sasuke remembered him as harsh; quick to criticise and inclined to flick Sasuke’s ear when he made an error, which had been surprisingly painful.
He had already shared his thoughts on discipline with Daikoku during a frank and private discussion. He had pointed out that if Daikoku forgot himself and flicked Hoshi’s or Hikaru’s ear, Sasuke would not stop Naruto from extracting retribution.
Daikoku had gone an interesting shade of grey that had reassured Sasuke that he understood. Instead Daikoku tapped the edge of the table with his baton, which was an acceptable alternative. Sasuke would see if Hoshi responded as well to Daikoku as he had done. If not, there were other music teachers.
At the end of the lesson Sasuke gave Hoshi a hug and praised her for working hard and pushing herself. She smiled at him and ran off to tell Naruto about the lesson, leaving Sasuke to show Daikoku out.
“She is promising, Uchiha-sama,” Daikoku told him, “Hikaru-chan will only ever be competent.”
Competent was a compliment from Daikoku. “Thank you, Daikoku-san. I shall walk you out.”
Shikamaru was leaning on the wall of the corridor outside the door. His body was too arranged; his eyes too anxious. Sasuke immediately used the intercom to summon someone, anyone, to escort Daikoku to the exit.
“Out with it,” he ordered as soon as Akemi and Daikoku were out of earshot.
Shikamaru looked away from him, which was even more worrying. “The Zetsus have pinged me. They need my help.”
Zetsu was Akatsuki and Sasuke loathed the Akatsuki. They had stolen his children. They had put him and Naruto through half a standard of hell. The Akatsuki had deprived them of five divs of Haru’s childhood.
But Shikamaru would not look at him. Sasuke’s mind raced.
He had no delusions about Shikamaru’s reach. He could have helped Zetsu secretly. This was Shikamaru choosing to behave as Sasuke wished rather than as his instincts told him.
He took a deep breath. “Zetsu is your friend,” he admitted and was rewarded by Shikamaru meeting his gaze. The depth of gratitude in his eyes was humbling. “You do pick them, Shika,” he added.
En-chan insisted that he would tell Konan. Inryoku was dubious, it was usually him who spoke to Konan or Pein, but En-chan was determined. They waited until Hana actually sat down for a few minutes. She was sorting and folding clothes. Konan-san was knitting a garment for the baby.
“I am Enerugi,” En-chan began in a surprisingly strong and confident voice. “The one you think of as light Zetsu. I wish to talk to you, Konan-san, and you, Hana-san.”
Konan-san? Hana-san? Inryoku was wishing he had insisted on knowing what En-chan was going to say.
“The time has come to accept that our time with the Akatsuki has come to an end,” he continued. “Some, maybe all, of us have personal loyalty to Pein-san but that does not change our situation. Either we are dead to Orochimaru or he knows we are alive, whereupon he will hunt us down.
“Pein-san would want Konan-san and the baby safe. We can try to hide or we can turn to the only person at least three out of the four of us believe will help us. Inryoku and I have made that decision. We have contacted Shikamaru-san.”
There was silence. Then Konan recommenced her knitting. “Good,” she said. “Thank you, Zetsu-san.”
“Good?” Inryoku queried.
“Pein-sama did not just want us to head inwards,” Konan told them. “He wanted me to go to Tarrasade and contact Sasuke Uchiha.”
Inryoku sank down onto one of the couches, taking Enerugi with him. “Konan-sama?” he whispered.
“Light Zetsu is correct,” she told him. “It should be Konan-san from now on. And we had better become accustomed to treating hybrids with respect or Sasuke Uchiha will be even less likely to help us.”
“But Sasuke Uchiha? We kidnapped his children,” Inryoku reminded her.
Konan knitted another row. “He is a man of honour. Orochimaru is not. To whom would you turn for mercy?”
Inryoku had to admit that she had a point.
Kakashi was seething with fury.
At least it was not Pein. If it had been Pein, Kakashi would have killed him, direct order or no direct order.
Sasuke had offered to replace him on the mission; to send Asuma. Kakashi had refused. Asuma was too kind. Asuma would be swayed by the fact that Pein’s woman was pregnant.
They were taking the new mini-mothership, the Maple. The idea was that they would rendezvous with the craft carrying the Akatsuki renegades. Kakashi was determined to make absolutely certain it was not a Trojan horse before bringing its occupants home to Tarrasade.
On the mission were Neji and Shikamaru, to assist Kakashi with the interrogation, Izumo and Inari, to take apart their ship, Shino, to work with Shikamaru on their computer systems, and Rin, to look after Konan and the baby. Tayuya, Gai and Kunugi would man the control room. Kisame had been added because of Konan’s dog-human bodyguard. Dan had been added at his own request. Kakashi was captain.
There wasn’t a queen; Iruka was staying with Ran. Kakashi expected Neji to volunteer because he was good at domestic stuff and no one ever skipped chores Neji asked them to do.
Kakashi stood at the top of the gangplank, waiting for his crew to board. It was the way old Uchiha had done it and he saw no reason to change.
Neji and Shikamaru were first, which reinforced Kakashi’s expectation that Neji was going to volunteer to be queen. Otherwise Shikamaru would have got his way and they would have been last; not late but last.
Shikamaru got his way far too often. Particularly about offering assistance to enemies. Particularly about taking in the person who had planned Haru’s abduction.
He watched Shikamaru approaching. Kakashi held his gaze; building Shikamaru’s hope so that he could dash it. He waited until Shikamaru opened his mouth.
“Do not try to speak to me,” he ordered. “There is nothing you can say that I wish to hear.”
Part of him relished the way Shikamaru recoiled from him; the hurt in his eyes. The rest felt guilty.
“Kakashi-san,” Neji warned.
As if Neji could ever hope to stand between Kakashi and a target he had selected.
“You take our stuff to our cabin, Shika,” Neji suggested. “Kakashi-san and I are going to talk.”
“We are?” Kakashi queried.
“We are,” Neji replied. “Before we undock and you become Captain. We can do it here, where anyone boarding can hear us, or it can be in private.”
Kakashi hesitated but he did not doubt that Neji would carry through his threat. He was about to say that they could talk once everyone was aboard but then Inari entered the dock with Tayuya.
“Inari-san, would you welcome the crew aboard on my behalf?” Kakashi asked.
Inari flushed slightly. “It would be an honour, Kakashi-san,” he replied.
They went to the captain’s cabin. Neji shut the door behind them.
“This is not only about Shika, Kakashi-san,” Neji informed him. “It is about your judgement. When you are this angry you revert to a standard that is no longer acceptable. Without Iruka-san’s presence to mitigate your behaviour, I believe you are a liability to this mission.”
Kakashi was reminded of the Hyuga who had served Fugaku-kyou; the man who had convinced Fugaku that he had ruined Itachi. The man who had faced up to a monster. The man whose advice had led them through despair to a better future.
He took a deep breath. “I am angry,” he admitted but Neji merely looked at him with his strange, pale eyes. Had the other Hyuga looked at Fugaku-kyou in the same way? “What is your assessment of this mission, Neji-san?” he asked, hoping that Neji would stop studying him.
“It is unexpected,” Neji replied. “Frankly, I am surprised that Shikamaru told Sasuke about Zetsu contacting him. He could have eliminated all trace of the communication and arranged assistance through his network of agents using a tiny fraction of his resources.”
Kakashi had not considered that possibility; his understanding of Shikamaru’s influence and reach must be grossly outdated. It was not a good thought. “He is sworn to Uchiha,” he grumbled.
“Yes. So he chose to tell Sasuke. Perhaps that is why Sasuke is rewarding him by giving Zetsu the benefit of the doubt,” Neji suggested.
“It is dangerous,” Kakashi complained.
“It is a massive opportunity,” Neji countered. “Zetsu is the Akatsuki’s creative genius. Their Shikamaru.”
Although Kakashi hated to admit it, Neji had a point.
“Who are you so angry at, Kakashi-san?” Neji asked him.
If he was honest with himself, Kakashi did not know. “Guess,” he challenged.
“There are a number of possibilities,” Neji admitted. “ At yourself for allowing the kidnapping to happen? That could go back as far as blaming yourself for accepting Ranmaru. At Sasuke for allowing the Akatsuki to leave with Shikamaru and Haru? At Shikamaru for being so unworldly and trusting, despite being one of the most powerful people in known space?”
Kakashi smiled at that one.
“At Ran?” Neji suggested. “At Iruka-san because of Ran?”
A memory of Ran and Iruka sitting together drawing came into Kakashi’s mind. “Not Iruka and Ran,” he insisted. “I shall think about my motivation, Neji-san. And I shall apologise to Shika-kun. Even if I want to strangle him, that is no excuse for being mean.”
“Meanness usually has less extreme consequences than strangulation, Kakashi-san,” Neji pointed out.
Kakashi recognised Neji’s version of humour. “Will you look after the crew room for the mission, Neji-san?” he asked. “It only seems appropriate, given that you have already assumed Iruka’s role by chastising me.”
Neji bowed. “It will be an honour, Kakashi-san.”
Shikamaru had done as Neji told him and taken their bags to their room.
He split his mind between thinking about the ship, his current game of Go with Klenn and his latest interrogative virus; he did not want to think about the encounter with Kakashi.
The Maple might be ten times the size of the Sakura but the accommodation was only three times the size of the Sakura’s crew room. Most of the extra capacity was taken up by the four docking bays.
The crew room was based on the ones in the Oak and contained twelve rooms. Neji and Shikamaru had chosen to share, as had Rin and Dan, so they were using eleven of them. If a future mission required a larger crew, one of the docking bays could be filled with extra accommodation. That was the beauty of Izumo’s design; the docking bays could contain ships or modules. So far they had designed three modules and finished building one; the security suite.
The Maple, despite its size, was as fast as the Sakura. Using improver and Mulligan drive, the mission should only take, at most, ten days.
He placed their bags on one of the surfaces, sat on the bed and looked about the room. He did not know when Neji had found time to decorate it but he had; there were covers and throws as well as a display frame on one of the walls. Neji had compromised; it was in Shikamaru’s favourite colours but Neji-neat.
Shikamaru resolved to be tidy; he did not want to drive Neji into the adjacent room that Iruka had left vacant for that purpose.
He wished Iruka was accompanying them; Kakashi scared him when he was like this.
He had not wanted to think about Kakashi. He could unpack their bags but there was no point because he could not put away clothes to Neji’s impossibly high standards. Instead he flicked through the images stored in the display frame, settled on one based on fractals and studied it.
The door slid open. Shikamaru changed the image to a restful landscape. Neji closed the door and came up behind him. Shikamaru shivered as strong arms closed around him and held him.
“We could break in the bed?” he suggested, knowing that he was being unrealistic.
“I have rosters to write,” Neji replied, confirming that Kakashi had asked him to run the crew room for the mission. “Later,” he promised. “You should sit when Kakashi-san can find you. In the shared area or the galley.”
So Neji had persuaded Kakashi to talk with him. Shikamaru guessed that he had played on Kakashi’s guilt.
He picked the shared area because Neji was sitting at the table in the galley scheduling everybody’s duties. After a while Kakashi came in with two cups of coffee. He placed them side by side on the low table and sat on the couch next to Shikamaru.
“He spoils you even more than he does Naruto and the children,” he complained.
Shikamaru thought that Kakashi lacked evidence to back up the accusation, but did not comment. Kakashi was making a point. Sasuke did allow him an astonishing amount of freedom.
“I think that is one of the reasons he leads so well,” Kakashi continued. “He is enough like his father to want to control you, control everything, but he manages to resist the urge. He knows, bone deep, that loyalty is much more valuable than obedience. More than valuable. Precious.” He picked up Shikamaru’s cup and handed it to him. “Drink up. I am determined to get at least three cupfuls down you before ship’s night. It is my revenge on Neji for being so insufferably right.”
Shikamaru smiled and sipped the coffee. It was delicious.
“So tell me about Zetsu,” Kakashi suggested.
Shikamaru took another mouthful of coffee. He could already feel the caffeine hitting his system. “It’s not Zetsu, it’s the Zetsus,” he began.